


cui bono

by Aylen



Series: a capite ad calcem [10]
Category: 2770 ab urbe condita - Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Rome, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anal Plug, Cuddling, Dubious Consent, Forced Masturbation, Kissing, M/M, Master/Slave, Sexual Slavery, Voyeurism, petting, slavefic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-13 11:42:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21243533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aylen/pseuds/Aylen
Summary: Ari and Julian watch another MasterClass video, and, predictably, the inspiration for their own activities isn’t lacking.





	cui bono

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [auribus tenet lupum](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21125660) by [Mossgreen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mossgreen/pseuds/Mossgreen). 

> Hey guys! So this fic was very much inspired by Mossgreen’s new fic [auribus tenet lupum](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21125660) and incorporates some of the dialogue from that fic as a result. I would also encourage you strongly to read that fic first before you read this one, if you haven’t, since I reference it throughout. And, to be clear, this isn’t a fic where I’ve written her characters—I’ve just incorporated a scene she has already written :-) 
> 
> Oh, also, this kind of continues a storyline started in mine and Mossgreen’s fic [Instrumentum Vocale](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20169337). It’s not crucial to read that one (or any other fic in the series) to understand this one, but it might help! 
> 
> Many, many thanks to [maqcy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maqcy) for their fantastic beta as always! Any mistakes otherwise made are entirely mine.

  


It’s a cloudy, rainy night in Rome, and Artemis is tucked up in bed with Julian. He’s cuddled up under the covers as he reads a dusty romance pulp novel and Julian writes correspondence on his tabula wearing sleek black reading glasses. Cleo the cat is curled up at their feet, purring, and the room is dark except for the brazier glowing hot in the corner, crackling softly. Somewhere in the domus downstairs, Artemis can hear a television going. He listens to Cleo’s happy rumble, and the sound of the rain on the tiled terracotta roof outside the door, and feels himself getting sleepy. It’s nice. 

He would have probably nodded off, if he hadn’t heard Julian hum with interest. He blinks sleepily, his book half-closed in his hand, and listens to Julian tap on the screen. A moment later his master reaches over to his side-table and grabs something, before sitting back and adjusting whatever it was; earphones. The small, sleek wireless kind, Artemis is sure. 

Ari stays still, wondering what Julian’s watching. A video, that much is clear. He doesn’t want Julian to get upset with him for looking; or reprimand him. 

But he’s too curious. 

He peeks over, and his eyes immediately get bigger. 

It’s _Ven_, in one of those videos with his own master. Ari swallows, eyebrows knit, as he watches the older boy’s naked body shiver on the bar holding his wrists up with cuffs attached. There seems to be a... dildo? on a stick in him between his legs, and his feet are on stools. His master paces around, speaking things Ari can’t hear. 

Julian moves and Artemis abruptly looks away, swallowing and flushing warmly. He can’t help that even the brief clip aroused him a little, though he feels awful about it; he _knows _Ven. 

Julian has pressed the screen to pause the video, setting the tabula down, and there’s silence for a moment before he shifts an arm over Ari and rubs his arm gently. Artemis takes even breaths. 

“You talked with the boy, yes?” Julian asks after a minute, in an odd tone like he wants Ari to confirm it, because Ari remembers them talking about that very thing. He nods and glances up at Julian before looking away. 

“Yes, Dominus.”

“And you found him decent and helpful?”

Artemis nods, trying to will away the red tinge to his cheeks, the way his thoughts are already wandering back to the slightly older boy. “Yes, Dominus. He was… nice. He was kind to me, and said that if we could exchange messages he would try to help me, if I needed guidance about something…”

Julian hums, stroking Ari’s arm and leaning in to give him a kiss on the head. Artemis shivers. 

“Well, I contacted Varius Metellus about it recently like we spoke about, and he was not against the idea.”

Ari looks up hopefully, a cautious and surprised smile on his face. “Ah, thank you, Dominus,” he says, urged suddenly to sit up and cautiously give Julian a kiss on the lips, watching him to make sure it’s wanted. Julian’s eyes warm and he smiles into it, holding Ari close and kissing him again, humming. 

“I’ll give Markus the details and get you set up with an inbox on his office computer.” 

Ari makes a small noise of happiness and kisses Julian’s cheek, cuddling up to him. “Thank you, Dominus,” he says gratefully. Julian watches him warmly, reaching over to stroke his face and brush fingers through his hair. 

They stay that way for a few minutes more, the quiet comfortable, before Julian kisses his head and holds the tabula up again. Artemis averts his eyes again, fully expecting to be denied the right to watch it—and maybe that’s a good thing; he shouldn’t be getting off to his _friend_, even if he and Ven did get intimate—but then Julian reaches for his chin and lifts his head up a little, looking into his eyes. 

“You can watch it if you want,” he says. “It’s your choice. What would you like?”

Artemis goes pink and swallows hard. 

“I… I am curious, Dominus,” he says haltingly. “I wouldn’t mind…” 

He’s a bad friend, probably. Would Ven want him watching it? If he knew he had a choice? Would he be disappointed in him? Or would he like it? Artemis isn’t sure. He just… wants to see Ven again. Is that so bad? He knows that Ven is never hurt by his master, badly, and he is relatively happy there, so there’s that at least, he supposes. 

Julian assesses him and then nods, taking out his headphones and setting them on the side table again. He turns the volume down lower on the tabula and holds it up, pressing play. 

_"Now, we don’t want to drop him too fast, even from this low height, because of the risk to his shoulders, and the sudden penetration of the dildo here," _Ven’s master, Metellus, says, using a crop to indicate each area as he speaks. Artemis shivers at the sound of his voice, being brought back to that day in Julian’s office when he had met the man. Varius Metellus is… intimidating, to say the least. He has a cool and serious air about him that makes Artemis nervous and afraid. 

Metellus firmly kicks the stools supporting Ven and the boy moans and squirms as he sinks further into the toy. Artemis hates that he likes it. He does hope Ven is alright, though. It seems like a dreadful position to be in. 

Ven’s master keeps talking, and, a minute later, nudges the stools even further apart. Ven drops his head down and Artemis bites his lip, his own cock twitching as he shifts slightly, the plug in his own arse becoming known again. _Damn. _Julian squeezes an arm around him and leans in, breathing in his hair and rubbing his arm. 

“Is this arousing you?” he asks in a low voice, and Artemis nods guiltily. 

“A-a little, Dominus,” he says, and Julian smirks, his hand smoothing over Ari’s chest to rub his nipples. Artemis gasps and cants his hips into Julian’s a little, eyelids fluttering. He watches as Ven’s cock twitches and his own does the same as Julian teases him. He bites his lip and grips the sheets covering him in an attempt to stay still and quiet. 

The stools are pushed further away, and Ven is straining now, quivering as he tries to pull himself up. Artemis shivers as Julian continues to brush his nipples, seeming to drink in his arousal. 

Ven’s master stalks around him, watching Ven, but still talking to the camera. The audience. Artemis wonders if Ven is thinking about him. Probably not _now,_ with his mind on other things. 

Artemis watches Metellus watch Ven, and he doesn’t immediately notice that Julian has reached over and gotten some lube from the side table. Then, in strange synchronicity, as soon as Metellus wraps his hand around Ven’s shaft, Julian’s own hand snakes under the sheets and finds Ari’s, wrapping smoothly around it. 

Artemis squawks in surprise before moaning at the sensation. He whines and lifts his hips as Julian strokes him from semi-hardness to something more substantial. 

“Dominus—”

“Shhh, we have to listen…”

Artemis bites his lip.

_"Ven does respond very nicely to anal penetration, as you can see. He wears a plug or other toy all the time, and is not solely dependent on having his prick stimulated in order to come. He can take surprisingly large toys, with the…” _

Artemis whimpers as Julian strokes him. The words plus the visual, and everything else, seems to be stacked against him to undo his control. 

And then Julian releases him, kissing his cheek and reaching for a tissue to clean himself off with. “Keep going yourself, but don’t come,” he says, and Artemis whines softly but nods weakly. 

“Y-yes, Dominus,” he says, reaching a shaking hand down to his own cock. He hisses as he touches himself, not used to the stimulation or being _allowed_ to touch himself. It’s strange, but he dutifully starts stroking himself, using the lube Julian had left behind. He swallows. 

The stools are kicked out from under Ven’s feet and the boy yelps, impaled by more of the dildo. Artemis makes a small noise of anxiety and arousal, stroking himself and watching his friend’s struggle. The same friend who had sucked him off. _Gods_, is Julian really making him do this?

“Good boy,” Julian purrs one his ear, nuzzling him and giving him small kisses as they watch. “You’re doing very well.”

Artemis whimpers softly and leans into Julian, needing the praise. 

On the screen, Ven begs as Metellus strokes him. There’s a moment of silence as he adjusts, and then can’t bear the strain anymore and he sinks down further onto the toy. His whimpering makes Artemis’ cock pulse in his hand, but he keeps his touch light to obey Julian’s maddening order. 

_“Good boy,”_ Metellus says, and Ari shivers, watching Ven struggle to balance on the balls of his feet. _“This is another position that will grow uncomfortable given time, and then he may return to pulling himself up to rest his feet, or to accept the final, and largest…”_

Julian kisses him leisurely as they watch the video, his fingers teasing his nipples. It’s nice, if frustrating. 

Ari breathes a sigh of relief when Ven relaxes finally. He hopes it wasn’t too bad. 

_“I notice that this week’s poll was to allow Ven to come, and I think he has earned his release, especially as he has been denied for the past two weeks.”_

Gods, that long? Artemis shivers, and can’t help the way he shifts in anticipation. Julian hums and pinches his nipples as Metellus takes Ven’s cock and starts to jerk him off. Artemis can feel himself getting close, can feel his orgasm building, and when Ven cries out, come painting his master’s hand, Ari whimpers. 

“Dominus…”

“You can come,” Julian says, echoing Metellus, and Ari does all over his own hand, bucking up and tensing down on the plug inside him. He goes lax and whines softly as his orgasm ripples through him, the warmth of it enveloping him. Oh, that’s nice, he thinks as he strokes himself several more times before the sensitivity becomes too much. 

Julian purrs at his ear, giving it a bite and making Ari cry out. 

“_Dominus…_ mmm… thank you,” he mumbles, half watching the screen as the toys are taken out of Ven and he’s lowered to the floor. Julian smirks and kisses him. 

“Clean yourself up now,” he instructs, and Ari groans before taking his hand and licking up the evidence of his pleasure. 

It’s salty and tacky and he nearly gags at the taste, but makes short work of it, wanting it to be over quickly. And when he’s clean, Julian kisses his head and lets him sink down into the bed with his head in Julian’s lap again. But then Ari sees that the video is over and his heart gives a little tug. He makes a small noise akin to a whimper, somewhat startled to see the details of the video in white on the screen instead of more footage. 

He swallows and looks down. “Thank you for letting me watch, Dominus,” he says quietly, his eyes straying to thumbnails for other videos. “And letting me come.” He sniffs and Julian’s hand moves to his bare shoulder, stroking and moving to pet his hair. He hums as he scrolls down the page, reading the description. 

“Oh, there’s something else,” he says, and taps a link. Ari blinks and inhales when he sees a couch, and Ven being led onto it. He looks tired and dazed and Artemis wants to go to him and give him a hug or a cuddle, too. What is this? Some kind of additional video? His eyebrows draw as Julian pets him and Metellus sits down, Ven’s head against him in a similar position to Ari and Julian right now. 

Is this…?

Ven shifts and another boy—slave?— comes into view. He’s getting a massage. Oh, well that’s good. It looks wonderful, and would make sense since the strain to his shoulders in the video. Ari’s glad that Ven’s master cares for him afterwards. Sometimes with these videos the audience has no idea what happens afterward, and Ari always wonders if the person is alright. 

Ven is given a honey cake next, too, and Ari smiles. Ven deserves honey cakes, and everything he wants, to be honest, for enduring the things his master puts him through. Ari’s glad that he doesn’t have to deal with quite so much from his own master. So far, anyway. 

The other slave completes the massage after a while and leaves, and Ari’s left watching Ven just breathing, and the subtle movements of his master as he pets Ven’s hair. It’s peaceful, and he’s kind of beautiful just resting there, probably falling asleep if he isn’t already. The video goes on for a luxurious few minutes more before finally ending, and Artemis sighs, his eyes now on the black screen. Julian hums and sets the tabula down, sighing himself and taking his glasses off. 

He rubs his eyes and puts everything on his side table, reaching for Ari’s discarded novel and putting that away too. He looks down at Artemis and rubs his shoulder, stroking him in the darkness before lying down as well. He pulls Ari into his arms, the sound of the rain just outside a comforting veil on the night. 

  


  


**Author's Note:**

> **Translations:**  
_cui bono_ (title) - good for whom? - "who benefits?" an adage in criminal investigation which suggests that considering who would benefit from an unwelcome event is likely to reveal who is responsible for that event  
_dominus_ \- master  
_tabula_ \- tablet computer/ipad  
_domus_ \- house
> 
> you can also find me on [tumblr](https://aylenwrites.tumblr.com/), [dreamwidth](https://aylen.dreamwidth.org/), and my main [tumblr](https://milarca.tumblr.com/), and [ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milarca)! comments are always appreciated ♡


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